T-Shirt into Baby Pants

There are a LOT of tutorials out there on how to turn an old (or new, in my case) t-shirt into baby pants. There is also a lot of information about how to recycle old clothing into baby clothing.

After reading a few, I thought I might try something fun. I think baby pants rank among the easier of the projects, and the baby gets lots of use out of them. So when my husband came home with a promo shirt for me from work, I knew this was my chance (it was a promo for Vid, the video voice over IP software he'd been working on for Logitech - check it out at www.logitech.com/vid).

On the left is the shirt and the right is the baby pants. The back is in the top photo and the front is in the bottom photo.

I basically used the pants pattern I love and have made a lot of (http://doityourselfec.blogspot.com/search/label/Easy%20up%20and%20down%20pants) and made sure to line it up with where the writing was on the shirt. There was writing on one sleeve that I put onto the waistband. I had enough left over to make a pair of trainers out of the extra material and used the neck band of the shirt as a waistband for the training pants~ very cute. I had to shorten it, but the contrast of the materials looks nice.

One trick I like but didn't use was lining up the bottom with a seam that is already there so you don't have to hem the pants.

Here are some of the links that inspired me:
http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants/ (shows the hem re-use trick)
http://www.rookiemoms.com/categories/craft/ (T-shirt to newborn gown-- but still inspiring!)
http://nikkishell.typepad.com/wardroberefashion/2009/05/back-for-6-months.html (this website is a bunch of women who refashion clothing)
http://thismamamakesstuff.blogspot.com/search/label/sewing (she does interesting tutorials every now and again)

Pin It

Drop-Front All-in-Ones (for home use)

I saw a posting on a French Blog for a prefold belt with an attached front with elastic on the sides. It was made of wool and the blogger used what looked to be a prefold in it.

I thought this would be a great idea for night-time. Night-time EC has been a dance for us, of finding the right attire and set-up to keep the baby peeing in the toilet at night, and not sitting in a wet diaper when there is a miss.

When I saw the French Blog, we were using a prefold belt (available at the EC store - http://www.theecstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1464- or you can make one or use a headband) with a cloth diaper between and having him sleep on a waterproof mat. This system was lacking as he got bigger and started moving off the mat while sleeping. I thought this item would save us having to use the mat.

So-- I made the one on the left. It is cotton on the outside, PUL film from Wazoodle on the inside (which makes a crinkly noise when it is used that PUL doesn't, and I don't love this film), then 2 layers of Zorb, and fleece on the inside. The elastic had to be on the inside instead of buried. The belt is made of cotton around elastic. I had thought it would be ok, but it leaks! It is ok when he is asleep in the Ergo, because he is not moving around, but when he is moving around, it is too loose around the legs. The snaps were added later and did not help. Also, there was too much material. The excess length did nothing to help.


The one on the right works better. The fit is nice, because the waistband is a comfortable stretchy fleece. There is a snap on the waistband so he can use it as he gets bigger. The back panel snaps up and down to let him use it longer. The middle panel is cotton/ PUL film/ Zorb, and fleece, then elastic. The front panel snaps up to meet the waistband. This one works great-- until there is a miss. It is quicker up and down at night and there is less moving the baby around (compared to using trainers-- as an aside, we can never use diapers because the velcro sound wakes him up). BUT-- when there is a miss, it leaks. It doesn't leak as badly as the one on the left, but it is lacking.

The other (obvious) issue with these is that they look weird. We really only use them at home, and only when he is sleeping...

I think I am going to design the one on the right again but make it a cover to use with prefolds. Stay tuned.

Pin It

Bibs: Better than Ever

So after using the original bibs for a while it became clear that instead of food staining the clothing, food was going to stain the bib instead. That's not very cute! The original bibs were made of a layer of flannel on the outside and terry on the inside. And, being summer (i.e. plums are juicy!!!), some foods were leaking through and making the baby wet.

So-- the improvement of the bibs is to have them made out of PUL. This way, the food slides right down into the pocket. White is another improvement, because it can be bleached to stay clean.

I think an improvement on these will be to use another color FOE (fold over elastic-- the binding) so they will also stay cleaner-clooking.

Note: See earlier post for pattern link.

Pin It